Quaternary ammonium compounds, including fluorinated quaternary ammonium compounds (FQAC), are useful as "catalysts" in phase transfer reactions, that is reactions in which the bulk of one reactant resides in one liquid phase but the reaction takes place in another liquid phase, or at the interface between the phases. FQACs are particularly useful when one (or both) of the phases is itself fluorinated and/or one of the reactants is fluorinated. However some FQACs often have drawbacks that unfluorinated quaternary ammonium compounds usually do not have. For example some FQACs are unstable to bases which limit their use, see for instance H. Yamanaka, et al., Journal of Fluorine Chemistry, vol. 52, p. 185-194 (1985) and L. S. German, et al., Dokl. Akad. Nauk. SSSR, vol. 173, p. 1328-1331 (1967). Therefore improved FQACs are desired.
Various fluorinated amines and fluorinated quaternary ammonium salts are disclosed in R. Preussmann, et al., Carcinogenesis, vol. 3, p. 1219-1222 (1982); U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,059,629 and 4,000,175; and Japanese Patent Application 4-164027. These references do not disclose the compounds claimed herein.